That Was Actually Pretty Cool--Flashpoint #1

Flashpoint #1
Huh, the event I was less excited about--Flashpoint--has a much better first issue and seems a lot more promising than the comic event I was actually kind of pumped for--Fear Itself. Who would have thunk it?
I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, I do love alternate-universe tales, and this is basically a story of that Flash fellow Barry Allen waking up in an alternate-continuity tale (an Elseworlds, if you will). Maybe I thought I wouldn't dig it because I don't really read the Flash. Yes, I tried out the first five or six issues of the latest series that just ended but I wasn't too big on it and my memory of what even happened outside of some time-traveling folk is really faint. Perhaps I was turned off by the absolute deluge of tie-in and spin-off comics they have planned for this event (21 comics not counting the main title in June alone), I don't know for sure. Whatever the case, I expected to not particularly like this comic. I wasn't even sure about picking up the main series (hence this later review of the first issue), maybe I would just be reading the Batman one because it looked neat. However, I read some positive reviews and learned about the big twist at the end which I won't spoil even though everyone else has, and figured I would try this out. Well, I'll be a whore in a henhouse (or something), this was actually some good stuff.

Barry Allen wakes up from a nap and the world has changed, but then we don't spend too much time with ol' Barry, instead getting a lot of fun exposition-type dialogue between all the heroes in this new universe (and seeing the Batman here isn't afraid to kill), and otherwise becoming enmeshed in this new world. Things are slightly familiar but also quite warped in a way that makes everything feel fresh and unique. Geoff Johns seems to actually be having fun here, doing something kind of peppy instead of relentlessly dark like some of his stuff (Blackest Night was essentially eight issues of  evil zombies ripping out people's hearts). Plus I especially like this new Batman and am excited to read his individual mini-series, making it still the only tie-in I probably will actually be picking up for this event. Plus, in this universe that cool guy Cyborg is a big hero, and I like him so that's really neat.

I was not expecting to like this as much as I did, but the people who said it was quite good are individuals I do indeed agree with--at least this time. The art is nice, Geoff Johns does some good writing, and the twists and turns of this new alternate world are intriguing. I will now actually be picking up the main Flashpoint title for the rest of the mini-series I think, but I still won't be picking up almost any of those numerous tie-ins.
4 out of 5 stars.